The Chinese concept of Yin Yang prescribes how seemingly opposite or rival forces survive by complementing each other. The philosophy propagates that good and evil cannot survive independently. One has to be around for the other to survive.
Just like the Yin Yang concept, so are wild animals and human beings. They are either a blessing to each other or a ‘curse’, depending on how they relate. The symbiotic relationship between the two creates a balance of nature.
The human-wildlife conflict (a ‘curse’ in this context) has been a pain in the flesh for both the Kenya Wildlife Service and many communities in some parts of the country. Frequent incidences of wildlife destroying people’s crops and causing loss of lives have been reported in Tana River, Kwale and Lamu, just to name but a few areas. Both pastoralists and farmers are affected by the conflict.
Daunting tales have been told of how people have lost their lives in gruesome battles with ferocious beasts in game parks, game reserves and even in people’s ranches and home compounds. Horrendous stories of human beings maimed by rogue jumbos, hippos and buffaloes who overstep the bounds of wildlife and encroach into human settlements are not uncommon.
In most cases, there has been a trail of destruction, injury and loss of lives - innocent lives. In a few, there have been near disasters and yet in others, KWS officials and residents have been able to control the beasts.
Many people would call for the removal of wild animals from their land at any sign of danger. Not so for the community living in Mwakitau, Mwatate district. Despite living in constant conflict with wild animals back in the early 1990s, the Taita hunters and ranchers did not swear to kill two animals for every human life lost courtesy of the wild animals, like residents in Lamu and Tana River once did.
At a time when the number of wild animals in the neighbouring Tsavo East and Tsavo West national parks were steadily dwindling, the Taita community, who were mostly hunters, found itself in constant conflict with KWS rangers over poaching. The hunters defended themselves saying there are poachers from neighbouring Tanzania who kill the animals for ivory and game meat. But KWS would hear none of that.
The Taita were losing in two fronts. On the one hand, they were being killed and maimed by rogue wild animals. On the other, they were losing government support as KWS held them responsible for increased poaching.
They had to do something, and quick. A series of meetings were then held between the community, KWS officials and owners of three big ranches in Mwatate including the Mramba Group Ranch, Oza Group Ranch and Lualenyi Ranch Ltd.
In the meetings, the community elders and ranch owners discussed ways in which they could handle the human-wildlife conflict and the KWS rangers. They met, discussed, disagreed, agreed, disagreed again, until finally a suitable idea came up.
They started entertaining the idea of using the presence and proximity of the wild animals to their own advantage. They wanted to set up a sanctuary, a wildlife sanctuary. This way, they would be able to live in peace and also benefit financially from the wildlife, which they were confident would attract tourists.
Once the idea of a sanctuary was born in 1992, the next possible hurdle was convincing the ranch owners to donate their land to the proposed sanctuary. But this, as it were, was no problem. The owners of the ranches had no qualms about giving part of their land to the sanctuary.
Mramba and Oza Group Ranches are communally owned with each having about 2,500 share holders. Lualenyi, the biggest of the three, is privately owned with 52 shareholders. Mramba contributed 30,000 of its 45,000 acres to the sanctuary. Oza contributed 28,000 of its 40,000 acres while Lualenyi contributed 70,000 of its 106,000 acres.
Lumo Community Wildlife Sanctuary was then formed in the same year, 1992. Lumo is a word coined from the initial letters of the ranches that contributed land towards the project (Lualenyi, Mramba and Oza).
With help from KWS, the community started learning the importance of wildlife to both the community and the country at large. Lumo sanctuary, that serves about 10,000 Mwatate residents, covers an area of about 128,000 acres and is home to different wildlife including elephants, lions, buffaloes, leopards, snakes, hyenas, waterbucks among others.
The sanctuary is sandwiched between Tsavo East and Tsavo West national parks. It is in the migratory corridor of animals moving from Tsavo East through Tsavo West, Amboseli National Park and into Mkomazi National Park across the border in Tanzania. It was registered as a trust in 2001.
Since then it has been operating professionally with a full board elected by members of the community. The first board consisted of 15 members. It ran the sanctuary until late last year when the community became disgruntled by some aspects of the management.
“The main aim of the sanctuary was to help the community because the poverty index then was so high. But the last management, after being in office for long started doing things that did not please the community,” said Stephen Ngure, the new chairman of the Lumo Community Wildlife sanctuary board.
Ngure was elected into the new nine-member board late 2009. The nine members consist of three representatives from each of the three ranches. The board members were reduced from 15 to nine for logistical reasons.
KWS corporate communications manager Paul Udoto says the sanctuary has been beneficial both to KWS and the locals. “The sanctuary has been a blessing to us since cases of poaching for either ivory or game meat significantly reduced after the sanctuary was set up. Money accrued from the sanctuary goes directly to supporting the community,” he said.
Lumo boasts of beautiful sceneries which tourists enjoy while camping in the sanctuary. It is surrounded by woody rolling savannah, a sight to behold when you view the beauty from atop the Mwashoti, Mwakitau or Ndola hills that are within the sanctuary.
Deep in the sanctuary there is a pile of huge, dark rocks on top of which sits one enormous rock. This has been named the Lion Rock. It is a critical breeding area for the wild cats, Ngure explains. They frequent the rocks during the mating season. That is probably the only time one can see so many of them in one particular area.
“The soils here are fertile and when it rains the whole area turns green,” Ngure adds. As it were, the sanctuary sits on a once upon a time highland tropical rainforest.
Up one of the several bluffs in the heart of the sanctuary sits a magnificent lodge, the Lions Bluff Lodge. Suspended on one of the bluffs overlooking the vast former tropical rainforest, the Lions Bluff offers an exciting getaway from the civilization that is most of the hotels. Guests are treated to a magnificent view of the sanctuary, with an opportunity to watch an array of different wild animals that frequent a water hole constructed near the lodge.
Lumo has made it possible to reap benefits from the wild animals and at the same time maintain the delicate balance between wildlife and human beings. As the locals aim to conserve the wildlife and maintain the main migratory corridor for most of the animals, they have been able to generate economic benefits from the sanctuary through tourist activities and also reduce the human-wildlife conflict. The local community performs traditional songs and dances for guests for a fee.
The monies accrued from the sanctuary including gate collection, bed night at the lodge and the rent that the owner of the lodge pays as lease, all go towards helping the community. Annually the sanctuary rakes in about Sh10 million in profits, 40 per cent of which is channeled into community projects while 60 per cent is shared equally among the owners of the three ranches.
Through the sanctuary, six primary schools and two secondary schools have been put up including Mwema and Kombolio secondary schools. The locals have also been employed in the sanctuary as rangers, 12 of whom were taken to KWS Manyani training camp for two months in partnership with KWS. Inside the sanctuary, there is a fully functional office block and two-bedroom staff houses comprising 14 units. Another eight units were recently constructed. The lodge also provides employment for locals.
Mwakitau chief Chrispus Munyika says cases of wildlife-human conflict have significantly reduced since the establishment of the sanctuary. “Cases of human-wildlife conflict have been few and far between. I remember only one case reported in 2008,” he says.
But today it is not all that rosy for the sanctuary. It faces a major challenge of lack of water due to the prevailing drought. Animals have had to fight over water sometimes ending up killing each other. Though this may be exactly what most of the tourists want - a natural survival for the fittest scenario and the jungle law, it might prove detrimental to the wildlife at a future date if something is not done quickly.
“The eco-system may be disrupted if the situation goes on. Dams are drying up. Three dams, the Lion Bluff, the Ighonyi and the Lualenyi, have had to be desilted at a cost of Sh1.5 million, a heavy burden for a sanctuary like ours,” says Alphonce Mwadime, secretary of Lumo Sanctuary board.
Other challenges include inadequate vehicles for game drives and a few rangers. The sanctuary has only two vehicles, one land cruiser and one old, rickety gypsy. This cannot satisfy the need for game drives by tourists and for patrols by the rangers.
All in all the community has done a good job in conserving wildlife, maintaining the migratory corridor, generating income and reducing the human-wildlife conflict in the area.
Source: The Star
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